


Take it Off

by brokenEisenglas



Series: Man in a Can [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt Tony Stark, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-Iron Man 3, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Worried Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:52:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16966320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenEisenglas/pseuds/brokenEisenglas
Summary: Tony nosedives on a routine Hydra mission. Steve doesn't take this too well.





	Take it Off

It’s all falling apart.

They’ve not dealt with these types of Hydra weaponry before. The blows are stronger, piercing parts of the armor that Steve wears far more easily than on their previous missions.

Steve’s tired. He’s bleeding. And, his team is spread too far apart for comfort.

Someone is going to seriously get hurt.

That someone happens to be Tony.

Tony’s talking over the comms about some strategy he wants to try. “Hey, you ever seen that documentary about dolphins?” Steve would call it a ‘fish in barrel’ tactic, but as he’s about to interrupt Tony’s diatribe, the boom of large canon fire interrupts and Tony’s no longer on comms.

He’s falling.

Steve doesn’t know what happens next, not really. It’s all fuzzy, fading away. He knows he’s used the shield. But, as he fights forward, he sees the Suit rise off the ground. Plates lift and shift, and then it’s in the air again.

Steve’s numb. So numb.

-0-0-0-0-

It works. Tony’s idea works. Thor, Hulk, Tony, and Steve successfully surround their sections of the base while Hawkeye takes down any who stray. Widow has finished inside with no luck finding the scepter. SHIELD arrives for clean-up. All has gone well.

Except for where it hasn’t.

Steve feels his feet moving before he realizes where he’s even going.

It’s his voice that says, “Tony.”

His voice that commands, “Take it off.”

The Armor twists and he can feel Tony’s eyes on him, but the mask is _still_ down and he can’t hear Tony’s voice, and Tony fell, but he got back up, but he never visits medical on his own and, “Tony… Take it off. Now.”

He must be a sight, because Tony steps back, as if afraid.

He can’t be afraid of Steve, can he?

Steve stops and removes his helmet.

 “ _Please_ ,” he pleads.

Steve’s finding it hard to control himself. The face-plate hasn’t lifted, and he can’t hear Tony. He doesn’t notice that Tony can’t lift the gauntlet high enough to force the mask up. Doesn’t see the heavily dented plates along the Armor’s shoulders limiting mobility. No, but, what Steve does see is a line of blood dripping down one of the more obviously concaved abdominal plates.

Tony takes the last few steps to approach him. Steve lifts his hand and lightly raps the face-plate. “Lift it.”

The head-shake ‘no’ and the aborted arm movement make Steve focus.

He can’t lift it.

Steve reaches forward, finds the clasps, and breaks them, forcing the face-plate up.

Big misty beautiful brown eyes stare at him and Tony is saying something about “lost functions” and “air filters still working” and “a bitch to fix” but Steve doesn’t care, because, he’s so tired and Tony is breathing. Hurt, but alive. And, Steve just wants to go home. Wants his team together, in the common area, watching TV and bickering about nonsense, and…

He leans into Tony, resting their foreheads together. Steve closes his eyes and breathes.

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: Take off the Suit; Really enjoyed doing this bit. 500 words or less was the prompt goal. Hope this satisfies. :) Let me know what you think.


End file.
